Water's Edge
by Tallis-chan
Summary: On Hiatus -- Sora and Riku never understood why Kairi would never go into the water even though they lived on an island. Can Sora help her with her fear? -Sokai-
1. Water

Hello peoples! I am back with a new story and I have no clue when I'll update the other ones. Anyway…, I hope you enjoy this.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

--------------------------------------

It was a beautiful warm, calm day in the Destiny Islands. The sun was just coming up and everything was starting to wake up, including a redheaded teenager by the name of Kairi.

At first she didn't want to get up, but then she remembered something very important, Sora and Riku were home. Kairi quickly jumped out of bed when she remembered that. It would make the day so much better knowing that they were safe and at home where she could see them everyday. She would no longer have to worry about them constantly anymore.

She couldn't wait to be with her best friends again. Selphie was a nice person, but Kairi couldn't be the same person around her. It was different with Riku and Sora. When she was with Selphie she had to act more girlish, something Kairi didn't really like to do.

The summer weather was perfect and Kairi could hear the waves crashing onto the beach from her house as she got dressed. She heard something else nearby as well. It was laughter. But not just any ones laughter, it was Sora's laughter.

She remembered the sound of his laughter so well. The sound of his laughter used to haunt her in her dreams during the time when she couldn't remember him. However for some reason she just couldn't forget his laughter, ever.

After getting dressed she ran outside to see if she had really heard Sora's laugh. She ran down to the beach and saw that she had heard right. Sora was out in the ocean swimming. Kairi watched as the waves would crash over him, causing him to laugh. She marveled at how his hair always stays spiky even though the water should have pulled it down.

Kairi loved his laugh, his hair, and basically everything about him. She laughed loudly when Sora laughed. Even though the sound of the waves breaking on the shore was drowning everything out, Sora still could hear her. Of course it's been said one can always hear the sound of a loved one no matter what the circumstances are, and apparently this was true for Sora. He looked up and saw Kairi smiling at him at him and he waved back.

"Hi Kairi!" he shouted loudly and began to swim towards her.

Kairi smiled at him the whole time as he drew closer to her.

"Good morning Sora." She greeted happily. "How come you're out this early? I thought you liked to sleep in."

"I do." He began. "But I missed the water so much and I didn't get a chance to go swimming yesterday, so I got up early today to do it." He looked at her curiously. "How come you're out here?"

"Sora, I always get up this early!" She replied loudly. "I heard you swimming and came to see you."

"Cool, do you wanna come and swim with me?" Sora asked hopefully.

Kairi immediately froze. "Um…, no thanks Sora, I'm… gonna go… uh… clean something. Bye!" She replied nervously before turning and running back to her house.

Sora watched in confusion as she ran back.

"I wonder what's gotten into her." He asked out loud even though nobody was around to hear him. Shrugging his shoulders he jumped back into the water.

Kairi ran all the way back to her house and once inside, locked the door. She breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall.

"That was too close." She said out loud. Her eyes turned to look out the window that overlooked the sea. She saw Sora still swimming in the water. The sound of the waves crashing over and over, the sea…, it reminded her of a memory. A memory she wished she could forget.

_Flashback_

"_Kairi sweetie, come on, the water isn't going to hurt you." Kairi's Mother said with outstretched arms. She was egging her five year old daughter to join her out in the water with her._

"_But Mommy, I'm scared!" The little girl wailed. Her Mother walked out of the water and scooped the small girl up into her arms._

"_There, there I'll show you that the water isn't scary." She said reassuringly. With Kairi in her arms she began to wade back out into the water. Soon enough Kairi was beginning to enjoy the water. She began to splash around and was very happy. _

_Later that day Kairi's Mother and Father were getting ready to head out onto the sea in a boat._

"_Can I come too?" Kairi asked hopefully._

"_No sweetie, this is just for your Father and me." Her Mom replied. "We'll all do something fun when we back." She added sweetly._

"_Promise me?" Kairi asked sounding a bit sad. _

"_I Promise…"Her Mom replied. _

_End of Flashback_

"Mom, Dad, I miss you so much." She said softly, recalling the last time she ever saw them alive. Tears welled in her eyes and began to fall down her cheeks. She sobbed loudly wishing she could make it stop, even though she knew she couldn't.

------------------------------------------------

"Hey Sora, Can I join you?" Riku called out to Sora, who was still swimming.

"Sure Riku, I was getting kinda lonely and Kairi didn't wanna swim." Sora replied back.

"Kairi came out here?" Riku asked curiously.

"Yeah, but when I asked her if she wanted to swim, she ran off." Sora replied.

"You know, I don't remember ever seeing Kairi go swimming in the whole time that she has lived here." Riku said.

"Yeah, I don't remember her ever swimming either." Sora agreed. 

"Do you wanna go and see if she is okay?" Riku asked curiously.

"Sure, let's go." Sora replied. Together with Riku they walked to Kairi's house and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Kairi asked from inside the house. Her voice sounded little shaky from crying.

"It's us." Riku replied.

Kairi suddenly became quite nervous. After all she didn't want them to know that she was crying.

"Uh…, I can't talk right now. I'll see you tomorrow, OK!" she replied. She leaned her ear against the door to see if they were going to leave.

"What's wrong Kairi?" she heard Riku ask from the other side of the door.

"Nothing's wrong with me, I just have a lot to do today! Bye!" She retorted loudly.

"Bye Kairi." Sora said. As he and Riku left her house he thought about how strangely Kairi was acting. "I wonder what's gotten into her." He mused to himself.

-----------------------------------------

Well, do you like it? I always thought it was weird that Kairi never went into the water when Sora or Riku came home so I decided to make a story over it.

Question Time! Does anyone know exactly what color Kairi's hair is? I said it was red in this chapter, but actually red heads have orangey colored hair.


	2. Boats

Hello again. Some of the people that reviewed my story said that Kairi would never go into the water, but she would have to ride a boat to get to the secret place. I apologize for my ignorance. I have never actually played Kingdom Hearts and I only know this much about it because of Youtube and Wikipedia. Wikipedia is awesome. Anyway…, I figured out how to make you guys understand more about Kairi's fear and how to have it work out that she isn't afraid of being in boats on the water.

Thank you **xoRaining Diamondsox**, **Awesome Rapidash**, **ffkingdom**, **revenantangel95**, **Doggone2dog**, and **oldcross** for reviewing.

Dialogue- "…"

Flashback and thoughts-_Italics_

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts

-------------------------------------

Kairi sighed softly as she listened to Riku and Sora's footsteps as they left her house.

She hadn't meant to be so rude to them, especially since it was only their second day back. She just didn't feel like talking to them right now. They wouldn't believe her though. She never ventured into the water, but she would ride a boat to go to the secret place.

It wasn't boats that bothered her, it was the open water.

The terrors of what could happen out there were still fresh in her mind. She tried in vain to get the thoughts out of her head by cleaning. It had worked for a little while, but Kairi was a tidy person, so it didn't take her long to finish.

As she stood there the memories of what had happened started to creep back into her mind. She decided to go outside and get some fresh air, even if it meant that she might meet up with Sora or Riku, it was just too boring staying inside the house.

She walked outside and wandered over to the beach. The very same beach where Kairi would hang out, waiting in case Sora or Riku came home. She wanted to be there for them no matter what even if she was afraid. She would do it for them.

Seashells were scattered all along the beach. Kairi gathered a lot of them up as she walked towards the pier. Once there she sat down and spread them out, admiring the beauty of them. As she did this she listened to the sound of the waves crashing onto the beach. She had to admit to herself that it was a comforting sound; however one look at what was making that sound and her fears flooded back, again. She tried to concentrate on the seashells she'd collected, but the painful memories were just too powerful for her to let go of.

_Flashback_

_Five year old Kairi was playing happily on the beach, waiting for her parents to return from their trip. She collected seashells and waded happily into the water. _

_After two hours though, the sky began to darken and heavy threatening storm clouds began to gather. Heavy rain began to fall shortly thereafter. Kairi ran to seek shelter underneath a tree. _

_Strong winds accompanied the downpour, causing the waves to crash harshly on the beach. The storm swept sea looked horrible. Kairi waited there for a long time, but her parents never returned._

_The storms fury intensified; as a result the oceans waves became ever more violent. Kairi was scared to death, yet she never moved from that spot. After all she was waiting for her Mommy and Daddy to finally return. _

_Eventually the storm moved on and a relative calm once again filled the air. The young girl sat down and hugged her knees up to her chest. "Why hadn't Mommy and Daddy returned yet?" She wondered curiously. After all, her family was only in the Destiny Islands for vacation. Kairi actually lived at Radiant Gardens. _

_When the family didn't return that evening from their outing, a lady that worked at the villa Kairi's family was staying at came looking for Kairi. She found her still sitting under the tree, staring at the azure waves breaking on the beach. _

"_Kairi, Kairi!" The woman shouted. _

_Kairi heard someone shout her name, she recognized the voice as Hannah, one of the ladies from the villa. She stood up and walked over to her to see what she wanted._

"_Yes?" She answered simply, her eyes still wide with the fear._

"_You need to come with me." Hannah told her plainly. She then took Kairi by her wrists and began to lead her home._

"_Wait, we can't go, Mommy and Daddy haven't come home yet!" Kairi cried in despair. _

_Hannah continued to lead the young girl home despite her cries. She felt sorry of course, but she knew that Kairi would become sick if she stayed outside. Now wasn't the right time to tell her what happened anyway. _

_Once safely inside the villa Hannah sat Kairi on a bed._

"_Let me go back outside, I hafta wait for my Mommy and Daddy!" Kairi cried loudly._

_Hannah tried to settle the young girl down again. "Sweetie, your parents aren't coming back." Hannah told Kairi sadly. _

"_Wha…, what do you mean?" She asked back in a confused tone. _

_Hannah gave the girl a look of compassion. "While your parents were out on the sea they stopped and got out of the boat to swim. While they were swimming a storm came up and they drown. I'm so sorry sweetie." _

"_Mommy and Daddy are…, dead?" Kairi asked in a confused, sad voice. _

"_Yes sweetie." Hannah answered softly. "The funeral will be tomorrow. You will live here from now on since you don't have any immediate family."_

"_No…, they can't be dead…"Kairi whispered softy, tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. _

"_I'm sorry sweetie." Hannah replied, comforting the girl before leaving._

_End of flashback_

"I miss you so much." Kairi said softly as she stared at the seashells scattered around her.

The sound of someone behind her startled her back into reality. She turned around and saw Sora.

"Hey Kairi." He said as he walked over to her. "I noticed you looked really sad this morning, so I wanted to ask if you'd like to go to the secret place with me." He questioned in a hopeful voice.

Kairi smiled at him in return. "Sure Sora, let's go." She replied with a smile.

They walked over and got in a boat. Sora pushed it out into the ocean and together they headed towards the secret place.

"_I'll be alright." She mused to herself. "I needed something to get my mind off of my parents anyway. I'll be safe as long as I stay in this boat."_

--------------------------------------

I hope that clears up and why she scared of the water, but it's ok to be in a boat. Her parents got out of the boat when the storm hit so that's why they died. Kairi's ok as long as she stays in the boat. Next time I'll clear up some more stuff like how to explain why she has flashbacks if Kairi didn't have any memory of past before she came to Destiny Islands. I got it all figured out and it will be explained in the next chapter!


	3. Funeral

And here's chapter 3! Yay! confetti everywhere lol. I like confetti, anyway enough of my randomness and on with the story. This one won't be as sad as the other ones, but I think it might be the last of the flashbacks she had when she was little. The rest will be about stuff that happened in the game. I'll try my hardest on that.

Thank you **TheFirstKeybladeMaster92**, **Inspire-Illuminate**, **Doggone2dog**, **Awesome Rapidash**, **ffkingdom**, and** Kinpaginpa** for the reviews.

Crystal: Lydia doesn't own Kingdom Hearts.

---------------------------------------

Kairi smiled as she saw the island where the secret place was come closer and closer.

She had spent a lot of time there after becoming friends with Sora and Riku. So many memories were contained inside that cave, so many special memories.

She glanced back at Sora, who was rowing the boat with only a little bit of effort. He didn't seem to mind doing it all that much. Her eyes seemed to linger on Sora, staring at the serious expression on his face as he continued to row. Her eyes wandered down towards his muscles, then back to his face. She wasn't able to look away from the young man. She just kept staring and Sora was starting to notice.

"Hey Kairi, is something wrong?" He asked curiously, pausing the rowing for a moment. This snapped Kairi out of her trance and her face began to heat up very badly, the glow on her cheeks was quite noticeable. Fortunately for her Sora just thought that she was coming down with a fever or something.

"Uh, no, nothing's wrong Sora." Kairi stuttered, starting to laugh nervously.

Sora just shrugged his shoulders and began to row again. Soon enough they had arrived at the island. The boat was about 3 feet from the shoreline and Kairi started to stand up. However since Sora was still rowing the boat kept moving, bumping into the shore and causing the boat the jerk awkwardly. The rocking of the boat caused Kairi to loose her balance and she began to fall, she closed her eyes, screaming as she fell.

"Ouch!" She muttered quietly. She opened her eyes and only then did she realize that she was lying in Sora's lap. She looked up and saw Sora's face looking down at her. She quickly jumped back up, causing the boat to rock some more and she fell right back into Sora's lap.

"Here Kairi, take my hand." Sora said softly as they both got up slowly.

Kairi was blushing badly, and didn't realize that Sora was as well. However he was trying to keep his cool in an attempt to help her. Sora stepped out of the boat while holding on to Kairi's hand and helped her to climb out as well. She stepped out of the boat and onto land and in spite of Sora's support; she sill lost her balance and began to fall. This time however, Sora caught her and kept her from falling.

"Th, thanks Sora." Kairi said shyly.

"No problem." He replied happily.

They stood there for a moment looking at each other without realizing their hands were still locked together. Kairi was the first to notice and quickly let go, she turned away from Sora, her face quiet red.

"Um…, I'm gonna go look around. I'll be back in a little while." Kairi informed Sora, her back still turned away from him. She picked up her feet and ran off. Sora watched her run off, his cheeks still red and his hand rubbing the back of his head, a habit he had when he got nervous. Sora decided to just look around a little while too while waiting for Kairi's return.

-------------------------------------------

As Kairi walked she looked at every little thing on the path, memories filled her mind as she did. She arrived at the secret place and went inside. As she did, even more memories flooded back to her. She brushed them away for the moment. Continuing on she saw the drawing she and Sora had done when they were younger. Seeing the drawing made her think of Sora.

"_What do I think of him as, a brother, just a friend, or something more? I don't know…,"_ She mused to herself.

Kairi walked back out of the cave and back down to the ocean. She sat down and looked out at the dazzling aquamarine waves breaking on the shoreline. As she did she began to remember when she first met Sora.

Flashback

_The funeral for Kairi's parents was small. _

_Kairi had not spoken much since being found alone on the beach that day so nothing was really known about her or her parents. Realizing that they didn't know where Kairi and her family were from, they had decided to have the funeral on Destiny Island. _

_Since that time many people had tried to talk to Kairi. To try and find out something about her, however she would refuse to answer their questions. Instead, she would just start to cry or run off. Since nobody could figure out what her past was or if she had any other family, they had decided to go ahead and just let her live on Destiny Island._

_The day of the funeral arrived and the weather on Destiny Island reflected the solemn event about to take place there. The sky was cast over with dark forbidding storm clouds and a light drizzle was falling. Rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance as people began to gather at the cemetery. _

_Everyone living on Destiny Island had come to the funeral. This included two young boys who were destined become Kairi's best friends, their names, Sora and Riku. _

_As the funeral began the weather continued to decline. The drizzle had now increased to a light but steady rain, everyone stood silently in the small cemetery holding umbrellas over their heads in a vain attempt to remain dry. _

_The two caskets were being protected from the elements by a large dark blue canopy which flapped lightly in the sea breeze. All manner of brightly colored flowers decorated them; still even the cheeriness of the blooms couldn't dampen the sadness that hung like a veil in the air. _

_Kairi sat next to Hannah, whom for the time being had been given the task of caring for the young girl. She looked down at the sad little girl sitting next to her and felt her heart ache at the young girl's terrible loss. _

_The Preacher finally took the podium and after a moment he began his sermon. He talked about how even in death Kairi's parents would continue to guide and love their daughter. He spoke of how life continued on even after one's death, saying that they had come home to the kingdom of heaven and that they would be forever at peace._

"_Rest in peace,__ we only rest in peace once we accept death and once it accepts us. It is harder though for those around us to let go, to find their own peace with death, their acceptance of our death. There are stages of this and sometimes it may seem hopeless to our loved ones, as though they would rather accept their own death than accept ours. Some may accept their own death in order to avoid ours, even those who have been avoiding death their entire lives, amen." He said softly as he finished the service_.

_Kairi sat silently, staring at her parent's coffins. Her eyes seemed to be glazed over and an emotionless expression was plastered on her face. She felt like if she did show any emotion or tried to talk, she would burst into painful tears again, unable to stop crying, again. _

_They laid her parents caskets gently into their graves. Kairi watched as they covered the graves with soil, smoothing out the damp earth as best possible before walking away. Kairi stayed there in the graveyard long after the funeral had ended. Most of the people who had attended were now gone. Everyone that is, except for two boys. They walked over to Kairi and stood next to her._

"_I'm sorry about your parents." The brown haired boy said compassionately. _

_His voice brought Kairi out of the emotional trace she had been in. She looked up and finally noticed the two boys standing next to her. However, at this moment the pain she felt was just too great, she just couldn't talk to them, not now. Sora was about to ask her why she wouldn't talk when Riku nudged his side._

"_We should leave." Riku whispered softly into Sora's ear so Kairi wouldn't hear it._

"_I hope we can see you again, bye." Sora bade farewell and the two boys left._

_Kairi continued to just sit and stare at her parent's graves. She remained there until the rain stopped and night had begun to fall. Hannah found her later that night still at the graveyard asleep. She gently picked the young girl up in her arms and carried her home._

_End of Flashback_

She shook her head, trying to rid her mind of those painful thoughts. She decided it was finally time to go back home and went back to where Sora was waiting for her.

"Are you ready to go?" Sora asked curiously.

Kairi nodded her head yes and climbed back into the boat. Kairi remained silent the entire way home, Sora tried but just couldn't figure out what was going on in Kairi's head.

When they got back to the main island Sora walked her home. Still silent, Kairi opened the door to her house and went inside. She was about to close the door behind her when she decided she needed to thank Sora. Unexpectedly, she flung the door open again and quickly kissed Sora on the cheek.

"Thank you for everything Sora." She said quietly and then closed the door.

Sora was shocked by the kiss; he felt his face burn as he blushed brightly. He put his hands behind his head and silently walked home.

---------------------------------------------

I think I still may have one more chapter to do with a flashback. I hope you guys aren't really tired of the flashbacks yet. I started the Sora and Kairi romance in this chapter and this won't be one of the fics that they just won't confess. I think this everybody will be pleased with the romance in this chapter.


End file.
